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The incident happened on Saturday, April 8 around 6:30 p.m., when state troopers responded to the D’Angelo Grilled Sandwiches shop inside the airport terminal on a reported disturbance, according to state police.
Troopers then met with a Black employee of D’Angelo, who said that the eatery had run out of sandwich bread because of an unusually high number of customers during her shift.
When the employee then announced this to customers and offered to make their orders as wraps, a tall white man allegedly began using profanity and verbally threatening her, she said.
Police then began an investigation and met with a witness, who also said that they had seen the suspect yelling at the employee and that he had allegedly referred to her with a racial slur.
After speaking with more witnesses, troopers located the suspect in the airport’s west concourse.
The man, identified as 38-year-old Michael Barnett of Madison, Wisconsin, was taken into custody and charged with the following:
- Second-degree breach of peace;
- Third-degree intimidation based on bigotry or bias;
- Second-degree threatening.
The Connecticut State Police Hate Crimes Unit was notified of the arrest, police said.
Following his arrest, Barnett was released on a $2,500 cash surety bond and is scheduled to be arraigned at Hartford Superior Court on Tuesday, April 25.
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